Best seminal local DJs still active today

The city’s clubbing heyday—roughly the mid-’70s through the late-’80s, though that range can vary wildly depending on one’s taste—was teaming with great DJs. Many have retired; others have passed away (R.I.P., Larry Levan et al.)—but there are still quite a few greybeards making the rounds. Here’s five of the best.

1. David Mancuso
   He may not be using a mixer anymore, but the rent parties he started in the ‘70s continue still.

2. Danny Krivit
   Since his days in the late ‘70s as the main resident at The Roxy, Krivit has spun at all of NYC’s major clubs. As busy as he ever was, Krivit spins top-shelf deep house and classics at his 718 Sessions at the Sullivan Rooms and Body & Soul nights along with countless others.

3. François K
   The French transplant quit deejaying in ’83 to focus on studio work, Thank goodness he’s back or we’d be without Body & Soul’s Sunday parties and the weekly does of dub at Cielo.

4. Danny Tenaglia
   From Sound Factory to Tunnel to Roxy to Twilo to Vinyl to most recently Pacha, Tenaglia’s decades-long career trajectory parallels that of NYC’s big-room scene. But unlike some major leaguers, he’s never dumbed down his sound, which still splits the difference between late-night throb and pure soul.

5. Tony Humphries
   A slab of soulful-house history, Tony Humphries—a DJ’s DJ since the mid-’80s and his seminal stint at Newark’s Zanzibar—is still in great demand, gracing the opening of Sunday Shoutin’.

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